Faith That Stands the Test

About Faith

Today, I want to speak to you about faith. Although that is a single word that we think we know what it means. Yet, in the Bible, the word faith is used in many ways. Even the concept of what faith is changes when it is used in different ways.

Faith is tied to faithfulness in the Old Testament. A person with faith will prove to be faithful to God.

Faithfulness in life depends on belief in a faithful God. So it is tied to belief as well as action.

In the New Testament, we can tell what concept of faith we are dealing with by the qualifying words with it:

The Faith

The Faith, in the NT, means the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. It refers to the whole package that Mankind is, because of sin, destined for the eternal dying of Hell. But God knows our sin and knows our need. We need forgiveness of sin, and in order to grant forgiveness, a blood sacrifice must be made to cover our sins. God loves us so much, and knows we will never measure up, so he sent His Son Jesus Christ, whose perfect life made the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of humanity. When we place our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, His sacrifice becomes our forgiveness. We are washed of our sin, reborn to a new life, filled with the Holy Spirit, and begin a life of holiness based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There are thick books written about this, so my paragraph is minimal, but we do have a couple places in scripture where Paul, inspired by God, condensed the faith well:

Titus 3:4–7 NIV

4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 NIV

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

That is “The Faith”— a noun that describes a doctrine of God’s work for our Salvation through the Cross of Christ. It also shows up as “this faith”.

Faith that Changes Us

The Bible also speaks of faith as an actor for us: it uses terms like “by faith” and “through faith”. It means that “the faith” becomes the means of changing us. Not just a doctrine but a change agent for our souls.

We also read terms that make it sounds like faith is a possession: Someone has faith, it is my faith or it is your faith.

A Faith Gift

There are a couple more terms that we see. In one place the Bible says there is a “Spirit of Faith” and in 1 Corinthians 12 we read that there is a grace-gift, a Faith that is a charisma, listed among the other Spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 NIV

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Faith as a charismata, a grace-gift, is, like all spiritual gifts, given for the common good; it is not a private possession or a badge of faith. But it is a gift of God’s empowering Spirit, to those God chooses, so that the church will have that gift of faith present so that whole church will be able to trust God for what the future brings.

It just so happens that this is one of the grace-gifts I have been given, and have used to encourage those who are wondering how the vision of ministry they have received can ever get done.

Finding an Uncommon Faith

Today, however, I want to talk about living with uncommon faith that can stand up against whatever the world throws in our way. Uncommon faith, not because only some of us can have this kind of faith, but because not many have become totally convinced that faith is the means by which we endure with confidence in God all the things we face in life.

This is the faith described in Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

And I want you to know that its faith you can live with no matter what the world sends your way.

Why? Because Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Uncommon Faith Starts with Knowing God

Well Enough to Trust Him in every circumstance.

Ephesians 6:16 NIV

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

You probably have had some experience with this, but perhaps not.

The scripture tells us how an uncommonly sound faith is formed:

James 1:2–3 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Some people’s lives are so amazingly blessed that they live in a state of thankfulness for God’s goodness because they have never had anything bad happen to them. Those people, if they are truly Christian, have a belief in God, have even confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their Savior and believe they are on a path to eternal life by the promises of Scripture.

All of that is good, but the picture it paints in the minds of people can cause a distortion of God’s favor that misses the point of grace.

I knew a woman named ROSE who lived a blessed life like that. She was married at the close of her college career, to someone she met at college. They had a good marriage, and good income. They bought a house in a desirable area, and had a boy and a girl. They focused on responsibilities to God in faithfulness at church. faithfulness in their tithes, never using credit except for their car and their house. They saved thousands with that kind of discipline, and fully paid off their house mortgage in less than 15 years. Their children did well in school. They volunteered at church as teachers and board and committee members and at some other places around town serving others. At nearly 40 years old, Rose said to me one day that nothing bad had ever happened to her. Her parents and siblings were healthy and faithful, her family was healthy and faithful, and Rose even said that she didn’t have any kind of scar on any part of her body.

And I began to worry about Rose. Not because she was blessed, but because she had never had opportunity to put her faith to the test. And the backside of that was that she was absolutely convinced that every Christian could have a life as blessed as hers if only they would live out their faith in the kind of perfect discipline and mis-balanced sense of holiness that had worked so well for her.

A couple problems show up in that scenario. There is a distortion of grace and a distortion of holiness, and a picture of God as loving Father who would never ever let anything difficult happen to anyone he favored.

1 John 5:3 NIV

3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

If you stop reading there, you will end up with a distortion of God’s grace.

The distortion of grace comes because it seems obvious that, although Jesus died to justify us from our past sins, after that it is up to us to make sure God is always happy with us by our perfect obedience.

Paul says it like this, Gal 2:16

Galatians 2:16 NIV

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

John tells us that overcoming the world is a victory that comes through faith, not obedience.

1 John 5:4–5 NIV

4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

The perfectly blessed life lives on the basis of God’s deserved favor, in other words, it depends on our perfect righteousness, rather than the righteousness that God had designed for us.

Uncommon Faith Might Lose Everything BUT God

Philippians 3:8–11 NIV

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

I could tell you a lot about how I have experienced faith that is based on complete confidence in God. That is a gift of faith but it is also a practice of faith.

I can’t really tell you my who story, or that of my wife, or you would probably get bored and stop trusting my word, for it is a long story.

I know that your Pastor James Darby knows what it is I am talking about, for I have heard some of his story.

There is a lot I can say, but lets just put it this way.

Uncommon Faith never loses trust in God, NO MATTER WHAT.

I have met and talked with many Christians that really don’t get the “No Matter What” part of faith.

Suffice it to say, I have lived through my parent’s divorce, the death of some of my best friends from school, an accidental grease burn that could have destroyed my wife Bobbi’s faith when we returned from our honeymoon nearly 53 years ago, the death of my father when I was 22, changes in fortunes and jobs and disruptions of my dreams and calling.

Bobbi tells her story that she has almost died at least 9 times, and did die on the table during a heart procedure once. You see, God wants to make sure I keep my vows to her—I can’t seem to get rid of her. But I wouldn’t want to.

Last week, and again next week, I will spend time with my brother Dan in Las Vegas. He is less than a year older than me. But 5 years ago he started down the path of memory loss. Not Alzheimer’s, but common dementia that is becoming more and more distressing and frustrating for him. His wife went into the hospital on Monday, and will likely lose some toes if they can increase her circulation enough that she can recover from the surgery. So he’s home, lost and alone, with some help from his daughter who is very attentive to his needs right now.

Although we were baptized together when we were young converts, he had taken some other turns in his faith walk, and for a while was faithless and not good or safe company. Then, by God’s grace, he was brought back to Christ, and had a change in life that i thought would never happen. While I was working hard to serve God, he was working hard to serve himself. He went through three wives, and has stayed with the fourth. And he became a dedicated, praying child of God. Even now, when his memory is going and his life is more complicated by dementia and newly diagnosed cancer, he says, “No problem. God’s got me in his care, so the rest of it doesn’t matter. God is good.”

That’s an uncommon faith that God sustains no matter what else happens.

Hebrews 10:35–39 (NIV)

35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,

“In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

38 And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

An Uncommon Faith Simply Trusts God

Colossians 2:12 NIV

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Hebrews 11:3 NIV

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Calvin Miller, in a commentary on church life and ministry in a delightful book named The Philippian Fragment, has one Eusebius of Philippi writing to his friend Clement of Coos. After a ....

Psalm 54:4 (NIV)

4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Faithful to the End

Hebrews 12:1–3 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

How is your faith? What are you basing it on?

In the very end, may it be said of you, and may it be said of me,

2 Timothy 4:7 NIV

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.